Fall 2025 MSSI Capstone Schedule and Requirements

Please carefully go through Capstone Project Agreement (CPA) and MSSI Capstone Project Requirements. Additional information about information security research is maintained at our library here. (Note the dates may not have been updated.)

• The MSSI capstone is a significant academic assignment. Especially, as stated in the CPA: “A project report is typically about 25 pages single-spaced, not including the cover page, table of contents, references, figures, tables, etc.” MSSI capstones often go beyond that.

• Research is teamwork. We will strictly enforce the requirement that two or three students need to work together.

• You need to work closely with your capstone mentor and teammates.

Please pay close attention to the three deadlines for submitting a proposal, a mid-project update, and a final report, as well as related requirements. Each team must submit an electronic copy in PDF through email directly to the MSSI Program Director for each deliverable. All team members including the capstone mentor(s) must be included (by cc’ing) in the email submission.

(1) September 7th: a 2-page project proposal and the CPA

• An optional equipment (hardware/software) request of 1-2 pages may be submitted if applicable. It must justify the need for the equipment and describe the specific plan to use it.

• Each team is required to have an advising session on report writing and literature search. More information will be communicated with the capstone teams.

Please plan proactively! Talk to the MSSI director ASAP if there is a delay in finding your capstone mentor or teammates.

• To submit the CPA, please fill out its first page and sign the top section of the second page. Please include information on the capstone faculty mentor and other personnel (affiliation and role, such as external mentors or research assistants) as applicable.

• The project proposal should have descriptions of the problem/challenge, any potential solutions in consideration, and a plan to execute the project. Please find one Capstone Proposal Example that serves only as a reference for organization and format.

(2) October 12th: a 2-page mid-project progress summary and an annotated report outline

• If needed, an advising meeting will be scheduled on the report outline for approval.

• Each team will give a short presentation in a briefing session. The two briefing sessions will be held on October 20th and 22nd.

For the mid-project progress update, each team must turn in two documents, i.e., a progress summary and an annotated project report outline. Here is a recent report [Example 1] so you know what they should look like (it can always be improved!).

• The progress summary should describe what has been completed, what still needs to be done, and any significant changes to the project proposal.

• The annotated report outline is the first version of your project report including all the sections according to MSSI Capstone Project Requirements. Each section has a concise description of the content to be included, specific to the project topic and tasks.

• The outline must include a review of at least five literature items on current the state of the art. The references and citations should follow the “Reference Style” specified in MSSI Capstone Project Requirements.

• The outline should have at least 1,000 words, excluding a reference list, illustrations, figures, tables, etc.

• The submitted outline will be reviewed and approved, if needed, through an advising meeting.

(3) November 23rd: a complete project report

• The report should be complete with all the sections, references, and appendices.

• Final project presentations will be held on December 10th and 11th, from 9:30AM-2:00PM at Malone 228.

Revisions are allowed afterwards until the faculty mentor approves the project.

• • • Please submit the final report in PDF to the MSSI Program Director.

    • Include the report abstract as text in the submission email that will go on the ISI website.

    • You may turn in the CPA signed by the capstone mentor later when it is ready.

    • Please submit the final report and all other project deliverables to your capstone faculty mentor as required.

For graduation, in addition to the above submissions, you need to submit a Qualifying Project Form (QPF) signed by the capstone faculty mentor to the program (Revelie), per the specified due date.